According to a study published in Journal of the American Medical Association, marijuana does not impair lung function and can even increase lung capacity.

Researchers looking for risk factors of heart disease tested the lung function of 5,115 young adults over the course of 20 years. Tobacco smokers lost lung function over time, but pot users actually showed an increase in lung capacity.

It’s possible that the increased lung capacity maybe due to taking a deep breaths while inhaling the drug and not from a therapeutic chemical in the drug.

A group of members of Congress is demanding the U.S. Postal Service explain a memo it recently issuedwarning newspapers not to mail any publications containing advertisements for marijuana.

“It appears a clarification of USPS policy is needed for state-legal marijuana businesses who seek to mail advertisements, as well as newspapers or periodicals that may run ads from marijuana businesses and who rely on the Postal Service to distribute their publications,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter on Thursday.

Signing on are U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, along with U.S. Representatives Earl Blumenauer and Suzanne Bonamici. All four Oregon Democrats have sponsored cannabis law reform legislation this year.

“Small businesses and community newspapers rely on advertising to be successful, and our interest is to ensure that these businesses have a clear understanding” of when and how USPS intends to punish publishers who print and mail cannabis ads, says the letter, which is addressed to Postmaster General Megan Brennan.

The USPS memo in question, dated November 27, says that it is illegal to “place an ad in any publication with the purpose of seeking or offering illegally to receive, buy, or distribute a Schedule I controlled substance.”

The one-page document was prepared by the Postal Service’s Portland District office and was reportedly delivered to a number of news organizations in Oregon, where legal recreational marijuana sales began two months ago.

“Regardless of how you feel about our failed prohibition of marijuana, every American should agree that the U.S. Postal Service should not be censoring what is or is not published in newspapers,” Blumenauer, who has led House efforts to allow medical cannabis access for military veterans, told Marijuana.com via email.

The USPS memo isn’t the first time federal authorities have levied threats against news organizations for working with marijuana providers. In 2011 a federal prosecutor in California issued a warning to media outlets over marijuana ads, though never followed through by brining charges or seizing assets.

The new document “seems to prohibit mailers that USPS had previously allowed,” the members of Congress wrote to Brennan. “In order to ensure both the integrity of the USPS and the many businesses that this policy impacts in Oregon, an explanation of how or why the decision to restrict all advertising for marijuana products and businesses outlined in the document would be helpful.”

The lawmakers say they want the postmaster general to answer several questions, such as whether USPS intends the memo to have legal effect in all 50 states. “If not, is it customary for individual districts to create their own policies that may contradict how other districts are operating?” they ask. “What discretion does a regional postmaster have in enforcing or implementing these policies, specifically in states where marijuana is legal?”

They also invoke a Congressionally-approved budget rider that prevents the Justice Department from interfering with the implementation of state medical marijuana laws. “DEA would arguably not be able to enforce polices regarding the in-state mailing of advertisements for state-legal medical marijuana products,” the letter reads. “If this is a policy with legal effect in all 50 states, then why is the USPS helping to uphold laws in medical marijuana state that cannot be enforced by the DEA per the appropriations language?”

The letter ends with an ominous question possibly intended to uncover evidence the Department of Justice isn’t abiding by Congress’s medical marijuana interference ban. “Did the USPS cooperate with anyone at DEA or DOJ in establishing this policy? If so, please detail the nature of this cooperation.”

The Postal Service has not yet commented on the lawmakers’ letter or on the memo itself.

The Clark County Zoning Commission today approved time extensions for more than three dozen medical marijuana companies to get established, giving them until May 31 to be operational.

Commission Chairman Steve Sisolak required each applicant — or a representative — to state on the record that their businesses would be operating by May 31.

“I have a problem when I have patients that applied for cards and there’s still no product available,” Sisolak said. “We want you all to succeed, but it can’t be delayed any more.”

Applicants stated they had faced a number of challenges in opening their establishments — from working out electricity concerns with NV Energy, negotiating with contractors and in dealing with the county planning department. Almost all of the applicants stated that they would be open by May, with some promising to be open by earlier — later this month or early January.

Sisolak said he would pull up each applicant’s on the record promise if they tried to come back to the commission in May requesting a second extension of time.

“We better see a lot of operations open up over the next year with all these commitments,” Sisolak said.

The applicants receiving extensions today included 17 dual cultivation and production facilities, 11 cultivation only facilities, seven dispensaries, one dual cultivation and dispensary facility and one independent testing lab.

The commissioners also agreed to give two dispensary applicants an extension of time beyond the May 31, provided the state division of Public and Behavioral Health grants an extension of their provisional certificate. Both applicants received their provisional certificates in June and stated they would need additional time to get their operations up and running.

On the eve of Veterans Day, Senate passed the Fiscal Year 2016 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs (MilCon-VA) Appropriation Bill, which included a stipulation allowing Veterans Affairs doctors to recommend medical cannabis in states where it is legal. This is huge for the Veteran community. This means Veterans who use medical cannabis in states where it is legal would not be subjected to the same scrutiny and intrusive, demeaning drug testing in order to receive Veterans Affairs treatment.

Oftentimes Veterans suffering with painful side effects or complex PTSD as a result of their service are faced with the decision to either take the medical concoction regularly prescribed for treatment by the VA, or seek costly medical care away from the Veterans Administration. More and more Veterans are turning to cannabis for its powerful healing and pain fighting attributes.

After serving in the Navy 7 years, I returned home with complex PTSD/MST and long term side effects from the anthrax inoculation, which left me with debilitating pain and muscle stiffness, leaving me unable to walk without assistance most days. The Veterans Administration prescribed a cocktail of medications, totaling 10 pills I needed to take every day, some two to three times a day. The side effects of the medications were, in my opinion, worse than the issues they were supposedly treating. I was left catatonic, completely unable to sit up, walk, talk or eat on my own. Upon explaining my issues with the medications to my doctors I was told they are fine, I just needed to get used to them. I knew there had to be a better way.

I was told about medical cannabis by other Veterans. To be honest, I was very weary, after having grown up with the D.A.R.E. Program and hearing how marijuana would destroy your life. I decided, going and talking to the doctor couldn’t hurt and was given a recommendation for medical cannabis use after describing my issues. I went to the dispensary and was recommended to try a strain called “Cherry Pie”. After getting my medication home, I filled up my new pipe and took a hit. Within a minute I could feel my muscles start to loosen. The crippling pain was alleviated. After another toke, the shakes in my extremities went away. With another toke, I could stand upright and walk on my own. I was convinced at that moment, cannabis was a miracle medication.

I couldn’t go back to being catatonic, so the next time I went to the VA, I was honest about being prescribed to use cannabis by another doctor. Instantly I was accused of being a drug addict and made to submit to a drug test in order to receive any medication. From that moment on, I was made to submit to drug tests at every appointment. If I lied to my doctors about my medical use of cannabis, I was treated with as much respect as any Veteran would expect to receive from the VA (which isn’t saying much).

My only hope with passing of the Veterans Access to Medical Cannabis provision in the MilCom-VA bill is that Veterans will have access to medication based on its effectiveness at treating the issue, rather the current persecution of a plant, and its users, regardless of its effective medicinal attributes. Although, I fear the Veterans Administration may have some time before we see that happening.

LAS VEGAS (KSNV News3LV) – It’s taken 15 years, but one-by-one medical marijuana businesses are opening across the valley, giving patients more access to the drug.

Four dispensaries are doing business now and a fifth will open in January. The promise of more storefronts is spawning business of another kind, catering to tourists. Now, instead of taking a tour of the Hoover Dam or up and down the Las Vegas Strip, tourists can stop at medical marijuana locations across Clark County.

Medical Marijuana Tour Promoters are now looking for business, decked out in bright green vests.
The 420 Tours began rolling about a month ago, driving patients from one medical marijuana dispensary to the next.

“I think it can only grow. Right now it’s all medical tourism assisting the patients providing awareness,” says 420 Tours Owner Drew Gennuso.

News 3 caught up with patient Greg Warden at Inyo Fine Cannabis on East Sahara. Warden is in town from California and he’s interested in purchasing his medicine in a safe, controlled environment.

“I haven’t seen anything like this, ever,” Warden said. “I figured it would be better to find someone to show me around to all the dispensaries because I have no idea where they are, and it’s kind of hard to find them.”

In Nevada, patients from other states can buy marijuana as long as they present their valid patient card and a form of identification.

Don’t have a card? No problem. 420 Tours says they can help with that too.

“If they come from a state like California where they allow video communication with doctors also known as tele-help we could provide patient recommendation in the back of the vehicle,” Gennuso said.

It is a tour like no other, providing a unique look at all Las Vegas has to offer. It may be just the first business like it of many. Next year, Nevada will vote on the legalization of recreational marijuana. If that happens, Gennuso says his business will really explode.

The tours only cater to people who have their valid medical marijuana card and who 21 years of age and or over.

The medical uses of cannabis and its derivatives are continuing to be discovered at an astonishing rate. This is despite the fact that U.S. government clings to an absurd, baseless classification of cannabis as a Schedule I drug, which severely limits research and scientific advancement.

The diversity of medical uses for cannabis lies in its ability to stimulate cannabinoid receptors in the brain, which are fundamental to the proper functioning of physiological systems.

A survey of 446 patients with traumatic brain injuries was carried out by the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute (La BioMed). The results, reported in The American Surgeon, found a strong association between cannabis use and survival of the trauma.

“Previous studies conducted by other researchers had found certain compounds in marijuana helped protect the brain in animals after a trauma,” said David Plurad, MD, an LA BioMed researcher and the study’s lead author. “This study was one of the first in a clinical setting to specifically associate THC use as an independent predictor of survival after traumatic brain injury.”

There is strong rationale for conducting clinical trials on trauma patients using medical cannabis. The case was bolstered by Israeli researchers, who found that the timely application of cannabinoids can prevent negative effects of PTSD.

Administering synthetic marijuana (cannabinoids) soon after a traumatic event can prevent PTSD-like (post-traumatic stress disorder) symptoms in rats, caused by the trauma and by trauma reminders.

Dr. Irit Akirav had discovered in previous studies that administering cannabinoids within a certain time window after a traumatic event reduces PTSD symptoms. The more recent study found that cannabis made the effects of trauma reminders “disappear.”

Another important finding of the study is that cannabinoid substances are better at treating PTSD than SSRI antidepressants, which bring a host of negative side-effects including violent tendencies.

Other research is showing more potential for medical cannabis to treat problems of the mind.

Cannabinoids may reduce depression that results from chronic stress, according to scientists at the University at Buffalo’s Research Institute on Addictions. Chronis stress reduces the production of endocannabinoids, which are naturally produced compounds similar to chemicals found in cannabis. This loss can be supplemented with cannabinoids.

“Chronic stress is one of the major causes of depression,” Haj-Dahmane says. “Using compounds derived from cannabis — marijuana — to restore normal endocannabinoid function could potentially help stabilize moods and ease depression.”

The research again makes a strong case for clinical trials in humans, particularly by using the non-psychoactive cannabis extract cannabidiol (CBD).

The wide variety of studies being carried out on the medically useful properties of cannabis is a challenge to the absurd nature of prohibition. For decades, government attempted to deny citizens of their human right to use this plant, but this is crumbling quickly in the face of scientific advancement.

LAS VEGAS (KSNV News3LV) – Two new licenses for businesses that want to sell medical marijuana were approved Wednesday by the Las Vegas City Council.

Las Vegas is already home to two medical marijuana dispensaries; it’s unclear when the new businesses will open.

In an unusual twist, the City Council appeared ready to approve as many as six new licenses; however, some businesses asked for more time. Some would-be pot shops are awaiting approval from state inspectors.

“The help of the council has been incredible,” said Vicki Higgins of Cannabis Advocates. “Unfortunately, there are many that were delayed today as to the lack of inspectors available to do the inspections. The council does not see the patients, but they are suffering and the businesses are losing a lot of money waiting for the inspections and waiting for the final things to come out.”

The City Council agreed to review the license requests again in December to allow more time for required state inspections.

Whether you’re weight lifting or marathon-style running, smoking marijuana changes the game a bit. And with marijuana becoming legal in Oregon recently, it seems appropriate to share a little information on how cannabis affects your exercise endeavors.

On a microscopic level, our bodies work similar to a lock and key mechanism. The keys, or compounds, float around in the blood until they meet their specific lock, or receptor, which is usually anchored to a specific body part. When they meet, the receptor “unlocks” and triggers something to happen inside our body.

An easy example to help us understand this concept is insulin. Insulin is a key that floats in the blood, and when it meets its receptor, the result is a decrease in blood sugar.

The “keys” in marijuana are known as cannabinoids. The two main cannabinoids are tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, and the less well-known cannabidiol, or CBD. They bind to and activate cannabinoid receptors 1 and 2 (CB1 and CB2) in our brain and body.

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Some research shows that after we weight lift, the CB1 receptor gets turned off, and this leads to a major muscle-growth hormone being released. The hormone is called mTOR, if you’re curious, and it’s one of the primary hormones responsible for muscle growth.

And if you need a cherry on top, here it is: After smoking, testosterone levels decrease and cortisol levels increase. Testosterone is another primary hormone responsible for muscle growth, and cortisol is a primary hormone responsible for breaking muscle down.

So, probably not the best idea to smoke before or after lifting. But what about other types of exercise, like running or swimming? How does pot use affect us there?

The research is pretty clear on this one. Cannabis use increases time to fatigue, meaning it makes you tired faster. Instead of gassing out after 30 minutes of jogging or swimming, you might gas out after 20 instead. Whether you’re racing or just working out, that can have a significant impact on your efforts.

Additionally, marijuana decreases reaction time, hand-eye coordination and interrupts concentration. In sport, all three of those are absolutely critical to playing at your highest level.

And don’t think you’re off the hook soccer players: if hand-eye coordination is decreased, foot-eye coordination likely is to.

But aside from sport, a decrease in reaction time, coordination and concentration is a great recipe for injury. You may lose just enough control of your body to tweak this or that — or, God forbid, tear or break something. Not to mention, a decrease in reaction time and concentration can have a deadly impact if you choose to smoke and drive.

So, it’s pretty safe to say that cannabis decreases athletic and exercise performance in every way, and it’s not something that is likely to increase performance.

In all fairness, however, there may be something to say for the psychological effects of marijuana. Smoking marijuana decreases stress and anxiety, and if the negative effects of being stressed out over a big game outweigh the negative physiological effects of smoking (everything mentioned above), then it may be beneficial.

But, in any other scenario, smoking cannabis isn’t going to help.

Additionally, these effects have been shown to last up to 36 hours after use. So, just don’t use marijuana before or after a workout or game, right? Not so fast.

The cannabinoids (THC and CBD) are stored in our body’s fat cells. So, even if you haven’t smoked in a while, you might still have some THC and CBD stored in your fat cells. As we burn fat, like when we exercise, those compounds are released into our bloodstream. That’s either pretty interesting, or pretty scary, depending on your history with marijuana!

But just like we know drinking alcohol and eating Snickers bars isn’t going to help our “gains,” occasional or recreational use of marijuana probably isn’t going to negate hard work in the gym either.

There’s really no other way to put this: the National Cancer Institute, which operates under the U.S. Department of Health, just confirmed that cannabis kills cancer cells.

In a recent update to the department’s Physician Data Query (PDQ) cancer information summary on cannabis and cannabinoids, the NIC reported that pre-clinical trials have demonstrated that cannabinoids, active components of cannabis, inhibit tumor growth by killing cancer cells, blocking cell growth, and preventing the development of blood vessels that tumors need to grow.

“Laboratory and animal studies have shown that cannabinoids may be able to kill cancer cells while protecting normal cells,” the organization wrote.

Not only has research established that marijuana contains medicinal properties that reduce inflammation of the colon in mice, but the substance has even shown potential for reducing the risk of colon cancer, as well as being effective in the treatment of the disease. Marijuana’s effect on chronic pain and nausea—which many cancer patients experience throughout the treatment process—were additionally referenced in the PDQ.

Further, the department included a note about the findings of another laboratory study that concluded that cannabidiol (CBD), a non-psychoactive cannabinoid found in marijuana, killed breast cancer cells “while having little effect on normal breast cells.”

“Studies in mouse models of metastatic breast cancer showed that cannabinoids may lessen the growth, number, and spread of tumors,” researchers added.

Asked about the recent changes to its executive summary, NIC spokesperson Katherine Jenkins told ATTN: that “the PDQ Editorial Boards conduct regular reviews of newly published peer-reviewed literature to maintain the currency of the PDQ cancer information summaries,” adding that the PDQ on cannabis and cannabinoid was last updated on August 7.

Still, the organization did not fully condone the use of cannabis for cancer treatment; instead, it recommended that further research is needed. “At present, there is insufficient evidence to recommend inhaling cannabis as a treatment for cancer-related symptoms or cancer treatment–related side effects.”

Police have been pulling people over and stopping them on the street for years, claiming at the stops that they “smell marijuana.” In the past, this has been about all they need to say to cover their asses and claim they had “probable cause.”

But now, law enforcement agencies are going to have to come up with an alternative, since several judges, including those presiding over an Arizona court, just ruled that this isn’t going to cut it anymore.

That’s right: if police wish to establish probable cause, they are going to have to find another way besides just saying they smelled something that might have been marijuana.

The Arizona Court of Appeals handed down that verdict, saying that since the state now has legal medical marijuana, the odor of raw or burnt cannabis itself does not constitute probable cause. This ruling could logically be extrapolated to and applied as a reasonable defense in other states where medical marijuana is legal, and even those states bordering them.

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